When I married Dan almost 38 years ago, I had no idea what all I was getting myself into. I was fairly young (21), probably a little naive and just knew that I loved this man and wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. What I didn’t realize at the time, but soon figured out was, I had married the son of Betty Crocker.
Oh, I knew his mom was an amazing cook…I had already been blessed to sit at her table various times. But it wasn’t until after we married that I really understood how much she deserved the title of Betty Crocker. This woman was (and still is) amazing! She never served a vegetable she didn’t grow herself. She was a master at frying chicken that was raised, killed and “dressed” (I had no clue what that meant until I learned I had to help!) on their property. She made her own noodles, dinner rolls and of course, hamburger buns. Every Easter she made iced bunny cookies and every Valentine’s Day she made iced heart shaped cookies and each family member got their own bag of them.
You could drop in on her and my father-in-law at any given time and she could just pull food out of the air to feed you in just a few minutes. In fact, when our son was a teenager, if he didn’t like what I was fixing for dinner, he would just head over to grandma’s because he knew everything she made was good.
All of this was overwhelming to a young bride who was raised in the city. I had no clue how to garden or can and freeze the produce from a garden…and I sure didn’t have a clue how to make everything from scratch. My mom was a very good cook, but we never lived in the country where we could have a big garden so most of our food supply came from the grocery store. This was a whole new world for me and it was obvious that I had a lot to learn. Inviting my in-laws over for dinner was a very frightening ordeal because I felt so inferior to the cooking of Betty Crocker J
As I was canning green beans this past weekend, so many memories came flooding into my mind. I remembered those early years of standing in my mother-in-law’s kitchen as I helped her can green beans. After a few years I felt confident enough to tackle the job in my own kitchen and bought my own canner. When I had questions, I knew I could call Mom Fulton and she would patiently go over the protocol with me.
We spent many hours cooking together in her kitchen as I learned how to make some of her favorite dishes. I worked alongside her and Dad Fulton as we turned the 200 live chickens into fryers that would go in the freezer. That’s when I learned that dressing a chicken had nothing to do with clothes and that gizzards had to be cleaned out before freezing!
Looking back, I am so thankful that God placed someone in my life who could come beside me and teach me these things. I discovered that I love to cook, garden and can and without her patient teaching…I probably never would have learned all of this. She never made me feel stupid when I asked so many questions…she was just happy to spend the time together.
I’m also so thankful that my Jesus is the same way. He has so much to teach me and He patiently shows me His ways. At those times when I am feeling overwhelmed and so unqualified…He encourages me to keep going and keep trying. He never tires of all my stupid questions…He’s just thrilled to spend the time together.
Jesus is anxiously waiting to teach us and I think He expects us to be willing to come alongside those we meet to teach them. My prayer is that our hearts will be open to His leading and our eyes will be open to see those around us who are in need. Who knows…you might just be the Betty Crocker or the Paul Bunyan that someone is looking for. And don’t worry…they won’t be looking for perfection…they will just be thrilled to spend time together with you.
“Show me the right path, O Lord;
point out the road for me to follow.
Lead me by your truth and teach me,
for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.”
Psalm 25:4-5
“Don’t look out only for your own interests,
but take an interest in others, too.”
Philippians 2:4
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